COUNTY AGREES TO MORE HOMES AT THE HUNT

For at least six months, developers of the Lake Worth area residential community have attempted to divide the property into two developments because of their inability to market one-acre-lot homes north of the Lantana Landfill.

In a 4-1 vote Thursday, the Palm Beach County Commission approved the separation, allowing the south part of the community to be developed at twice the density approved in 1974. The move was opposed by several residents.

The lower 208 acres of the 315-acre development will be developed as Villages of Eagle Lake, with 418 units.

Residents said they had been promised a one-acre-lot community. But Martin Perry, attorney for The Hunt Homeowners Association, the developer, said that proposal no longer was possible.

"The Hunt was a project that was ill-fated. It was not ill-conceived, but it was ill-fated," Perry said. "The fact is the area has changed out there. It hasn't changed for the better. It's changed for the worse."

Because of underground water problems associated with the landfill, the developer has been unable to obtain well and septic-tank approval from the county Health Department. This would force public water and sewer lines to be extended to the area, making it too costly to develop a community with one home per acre, Perry said.

In an attempt to soothe Hunt residents in the northern part of the community, the original density request was dropped from three units per acre to two units per acre.

The first 150 feet on the northern part of the new development, Perry said, would be heavily landscaped. In addition, half-acre homes would be developed at the northern end. A 50-acre polo farm also would serve as a buffer.

Density at the southernmost portion of the development would be 6.7 units per acre, Perry said. "Every effort has been made to create a view that is not offensive to the people," Perry said.

The development will provide $800,000 in area road improvements, including widening Lake Worth Road from two to four lanes under Florida's Turnpike, and $105,500 for School Board land acquisition and site improvement.

But Bennett Cohn, attorney for several Hunt residents, said the buffer area was inconsequential, saying the homes would be small and not be in the price range of the established community.

Cohn also said the money from the developer should be used toward widening Lantana Road or Sixth Avenue South.

Similar complaints were voiced by Hunt residents Nelson Curl and Gregory Aslanian.

"We are asking you to disapprove this," said Aslanian, who suggested another developer might be able to successfully market the project.

But only Commissioner Dorothy Wilken opposed the request to increase density.

Villages of Eagle Lake will be developed by three Miami developers who run Tradewinds Development Co., Perry said. Construction will begin in six months to a year, he said.